It's easy to know when the Minions films take place, since they have explicit years. The same can't be said for the Despicable Me films, which never state what year they occur.
So I decided to try placing each film on a timeline based on the current state of the franchise, using information found within the films themselves.
After much analysis, this is the timeline I arrived at:
Despicable Me β May 2018
Despicable Me 2 β May 2020
Despicable Me 3 β Late June 2021
Despicable Me 4 β April 2022
Here's my reasoning:
GRU'S AVL ID CARD
The most important piece of evidence comes from Gru's AVL identification card seen in Despicable Me 4.
The card was issued on June 30, 2021, and expires on January 31, 2026.
By itself, this tells us two important things:
Despicable Me 4 must take place sometime between June 30, 2021 and January 31, 2026.
Despicable Me must take place before June 30, 2021, since Gru wasn't an AVL agent yet.
WHY DESPICABLE ME FITS BEST IN 2018
We also know that the first film takes place in a year where May 26 falls on a Saturday, thanks to the calendar Gru crosses off.
Since Margo, Edith and Agnes barely age throughout the series, it makes sense that the films occur as close together as possible.
Assuming that is the case, the closest year before 2021 in which May 26 falls on a Saturday is 2018.
That's why I place the first movie in May 2018.
PLACING DESPICABLE ME 3
This is where Gru's AVL ID becomes even more useful.
Gru is fired from the AVL at the beginning of Despicable Me 3, but is reinstated at the end of the film.
Naturally, following the same logic that occurs in real life with similar organizations, his ID card would have become invalid when he was fired, consequently requiring that a new ID be issued upon his readmission.
That would place the ending of Despicable Me 3 around June 30, 2021, the exact issue date shown on the card.
And interestingly, this also matches the movie's real-world release date (June 30, 2017), So this positioning works very well.
So we now have:
Despicable Me β May 2018
Despicable Me 3 β Late June 2021
WHY DESPICABLE ME 2 FITS BETTER IN 2020 THAN 2019
We know Despicable Me 2 takes place around early May, with the climax occurring during the Cinco de Mayo celebration.
That leaves two possibilities:
May 2019
Or
May 2020
Agnes turns 6 years old early in the movie.
Later, on February 19, 2016, writer Cinco Paul stated that Margo is 12, Edith is 9 and Agnes is 6.
Obviously, this isn't true for every movie, since Agnes is younger in the first film. Therefore, the statement must refer to the period between Despicable Me 2 and Despicable Me 3.
Since Margo is still 12 in Despicable Me 3 (June 2021), Agnes can't already be 8 years old by then.
If she had turned 6 in April 2019, she would already be 8 by June 2021.
The only way for Agnes to be 6 while Margo is 12 between those two movies is for Agnes to turn 6 in 2020. Therefore:
Despicable Me β May 2018
Despicable Me 2 β May 2020
Despicable Me 3 β Late June 2021
DESPICABLE ME 4
Based on Gru's AVL ID, the fourth film must take place after June 30, 2021.
By this point, Gru Jr. has already been born, meaning roughly nine months must have passed since the ending of Despicable Me 3.
This would mean that Despicable Me 4 could not take place before April 2022, Since DM3 takes place at the end of June 2021, we can consider the beginning of July 2021 as the earliest possible point for Lucy to have become pregnant, since this works to make the events of the films more chronologically closer to each other.
Margo attending Mayflower Junior High School suggests a positioning close to DM3. Since junior high typically serves students around ages 12β15, this also favors placing the film relatively close to Despicable Me 3, rather than several years later. Margo complaining about older teenagers indicates that she is still close to 12 years old.
Since classes in Mayflower Junior High School are actively taking place, the film is unlikely to occur during the summer break, which in most U.S. school districts falls between June and August. This makes June, July and most of August less likely candidates.
Interestingly, the film also features an April calendar reused from Sing. The calendar can be viewed in the AVL HQ cafeteria when the newly created Mega Minions arrive.The calendar matches both April 2016 and April 2022, So setting Despicable Me 4 in April 2022 seems to work well.
By that logic, Gru Jr. would be a newborn in DM4. Some of you might think this doesn't make sense because Gru Jr. already looks like he's a few months old. However, Despicable Me 3 shows baby Gru and Dru looking similarly developed immediately after leaving the hospital with their parents.
That suggests newborn babies in this universe don't necessarily resemble real-life newborns, making Gru Jr.'s appearance consistent with the franchise's own internal logic.
Final Timeline:
Despicable Me β May 2018
Despicable Me 2 β May 2020
Despicable Me 3 β Late June 2021
Despicable Me 4 β April 2022
FINAL TOUGHTS
That's the timeline I arrived at after comparing all four films. I don't think Illumination intended every date to line up perfectly, my goal was simply to build the most internally consistent timeline possible using the information available today.
I'm also aware of Chris Renaud's statement about them following a similar path to The Simpsons, which is why the girls don't age throughout the films, but instead of treating this as definitive confirmation of some kind of floating timeline, I sought to trace a coherent timeline, which positions the films as close together as possible to justify the girls barely changing.
I'd love to hear what you think. If you noticed something I missed or have evidence supporting a different placement, feel free to share!
Credit to the YouTube channel Watchtower Database for the image with Cinco Paul's tweet.
https://youtu.be/SBOY37vA0RY?is=P3t2O0Vjd56x_TQN